Safety-pocket



H. PHELPS SAFETY POCKET.

(ModeL) Patented May 4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY PHELPS, OF READVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY- POCKET.

QPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent l\To.341,2'75, dated May 4, 1856.

Application filed September 8, 1885. Serial No. 176.523. (Model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY PHELPS, of

Readville, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Pockets for Clothing, &c., of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. a This invention relates to concealed or safety pockets for clothing, &c., and the pocket of this invention is provided with a thread or threads of linen or other suitable material crossing the pocket at its mouth and connecting its opposite sides, and severally arranged in a manner to permit the opposite sides of the mouth of the pocket to be opened from and closed upon each other, moving in each instance along and over the lengths of said threads, and all otherwise substantially as hereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying plate of drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is an exterior front view of a piece of cloth having a lappel secured to it and made with a pocket of this invention, and showing in dotted lines the threads crossing the month of the pocket from side to side. Fig. 2 is a cross section along line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is aperspective view of a block and plates covering it, the whole adapted to be used for running the threads across from side to side of the mouth of the pocket, as will hereinafterappear. Fig. 4 is a cross-section and perspective view of the pocket closed. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5 5, Fig. 4; and Fig. 6

- is a cross-section at the mouth of the pocket and showing the same as opened.

In the drawings, A represents a piece of cloth, and B a pocket having its mouth at 0. (Shown as closed in Figs. 2 and 4. and opened in Fig. 6.)

D D are two separate threads or strands of linen or of other suitable material. One, D, of the threads D D", knotted at its end E, starts at a point, F, in lower portion of the lappel G, below one end of the mouth of the pocket, and there it passes between the cloth and lining making the lappel, and at right angles to said mouth, through the thickness of the lappel-cloth at the mouth of the pocket and of the cloth directly at and above said mouth, and back through said two thicknesses and between the cloth and lining of the lappel to a point, H, in line with the starting-point F and a line parallel with the mouth of the pocket, and thence forward again through the thickness of said lappel-cloth to and through said double thickness of cloth at the mouth of the pocket, and back again to a point, J, of the lappel'cloth, in line with the points F H, as before, and so on, forward and backward, for the length of the pocket-mouth, ending at a point, K, in line with the points F H J, where it is secured in any suitable manner. The other, D, ofthe threads D D knotted at its end, starts at a point, L, in the cloth above the mouth of the pocket, and thence it passes between said cloth and its lining to and through the double thickness of cloth at the mouth of the pocket, and back again through said thicknesses between the first pair of parallel lines of the other thread, D, and between the cloth above the month of the pocket and its lining to a point, M, in line with said starting-point L and a line parallel with the mouth of the pocket, and thence forward again, as before, passing between the next pair of parallel lines of the other thread, D, and so on, forward and backward, for thelength of the pocket-mouth, ending at a point, N, in line with points LM, where it is secured in any suitable manner. The strands or threads D D thus run in parallel lines, the one, D, from points below and the other, D, from points above the mouth of the pocket, across said mouth and to and through the cloth, making the opposite sides thereof. Again, each of said strands D D makes, as it were, a series of parallel bars for the side of the pocket-mouth, above or below which they are arranged, as the case may be, to travel upon in the opening and closing of the mouth of the pocket, as hereinafter described.

To open the mouth of the pocket, grip the cloth making its sides, and between it and the outer or farther ends of the threads D D, with the fingers of each hand, and then pull on each portion of the cloth so gripped in a direction from the mouth of the pocket. To close said mouth, grasp the cloth making its opposite sides beyond the ends of the strands the farther from said month and pull on the cloth so grasped in opposite directions. The mouth of the pocket opened is crossed by the strands between which articles may be inserted, and

the pocket closed is' concealed from view, and unless the cloth is gripped and pulled upon, as has been described, it will not and cannot be opened.

For running the separate strands I) D across the mouth of the pocket in the manner described, a block, 0, and plates P P, to cover the same, are provided, Fig. 8. The block 0 is made inclining on its upper side from its center line to each of its parallel outer edges, Q, and on each of said inclines a piece of cloth is placed with the edge R of each piece turned and projected upward between the edges S of plates P P, which are placed and secured by tacking upon the so located cloth. Each plate P is ribbed, as at T, along its length, and marked in parallel lines as guides for the rum ning of the strands D D and which are passed, as has been described, from certain given points back of the mouth of the pocket and through the thicknesses of the two pieces of cloth making the opposite sides of the mouth of the pocket, all as is plainly and fully illustrated in Fig. 3. The ribs of the plates give i increased length to the threads, and thus insure a close seam at the mouth of the pocket when the pocket is closed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

A method of forming a b1ind-opening for the pocket of a garment, &c., consisting in looping two independent threads or strands, D D Within the opposite edges of the pocketopening, passing respectively through both edges of and across said opening, and also in looping the one thread in the fabric at one side and the other thread at the other side of the pocket-opening, and in each instance at a distance therefrom, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

HENRY PHELPS.

\Vitnesses:

ALBERT XV. BRO\VN, \VM. S. BELLOWS. 

